Telcos Oppose Cable Recon Bid for FCC Pole Rate Protections Under ILEC Accounting Relief
Incumbent telcos objected to cable petition that the FCC revise pole-attachment aspects of an order that streamlined price-cap ILEC accounting by allowing carriers to opt out of Part 32 rules in favor of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) (see 1706260040).…
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"Asking the FCC to require price-cap carriers to continue to follow Part 32 for certain things like valuation of assets after a merger defeats the purpose of Part 32 relief," USTelecom commented Friday in docket 14-130. NCTA had argued the order "eliminates procedural and substantive protections" for pole-attachment rates, but the FCC recognized Part 32 accounting rules are "outdated for price cap carriers, and maintaining them is a needless regulatory burden and expense," said the ILEC group, calling the cable proposal "utterly impractical and plainly unwarranted." USTelecom said ILECs developed and the FCC adopted a "fair, comparatively simple, and transparent" GAAP transition plan for calculating pole rates "without disrupting the Commission's pole attachment regime." AT&T said NCTA's argument that pole rates would skyrocket because ILECs shifting to GAAP would over-recover costs ignored FCC safeguards. The carriers are required to either continue to use Part 32 accounting for pole attachment rates or to calculate "an Implementation Rate Difference" between Part 32 and GAAP, and then adjust their GAAP-based pole rates accordingly for 12 years, commented AT&T, which said rates would be "stable for the foreseeable future." The FCC also allowed pole attachers to request pole rate reviews, the telco said.